Star Fox SNES: Unleashing the Full Potential with Patches

Happy 30th Anniversary, Star Fox!
Here is a detailed look at the 30 and 60 fps patches made by ‪@kandowontu5896‬ for Star Fox on the SNES.
Kando's Twitter page:
/ kandowontu
Discord Link:
t.co/nW7aKD5LIp
SNES 9x Neo Emulator:
github.com/Sun...
30 and 60 FPS Patches:
www.romhacking...
SNES Rom Patcher (Flips)
www.smwcentral...

[@bonchbonch]

There's something about this retro polygonal style that I still find exciting. It's a legitimate visual style of its own, like pixel art.

[@randybobandy9828]

I loved Star Fox back when I was 7 in 1995 playing it for the first time but I could never bother to play that turd again 😂

[@bonchbonch]

@@randybobandy9828 Harsh, LOL!

[@Werewolfwrath]

Totally agree with you there. I know that most people don't seem to appreciate the game's old-school polygonal look, but I personally find it more visually appealing than 64. Part of the reason why I've been keeping tabs on Ex-Zodiac's early access development is because it's calling back to that retro-polygon art style.

[@retroreminder6139]

I love low poly art. I'm sure part of it comes from growing up in that era of gaming, but even outside of nostalgia I like the style. Something about seeing what an artist can do with those limitations amazes me.

[@Nutty151]

The artwork for the boxart of this game is nightmare inducing. Forget FNAF lol.

[@piccoroz]

The thing is much of the game logic is linked to the actual frames, the patching would need a change to the code to different clocks for the visuals to the game logic, I think it would be possible to make something like the remasters of some game where they run the original engine at the same time as the improved visuals.

[@stuaxo]

Yup, I bet someone does this in the next few years.

[@maestro-zq8gu]

Maybe some kind of frame generation could be a good solution.

[@mrh3894]

a remake in unity or even SFML or SDL seems like it wouldn't be too herculean to mock up what it might look like in proper 60fps. I remember people overclocking the physical super FX chip in StuntRace and Doom but that was the FX 2 and I am unaware of the same being done in the SFX1.

[@Oni64]

60 FPS seems to fast. 30 FPS looks ok. As a kid I thought all the slowdown was more for a dramatic feel lol

[@pjnaruto1]

Same as a kid I didn't realize the slowdown wasn't intentional I just kind of thought it was a thing in all games that it was like for a moment of slow down for the dramatic affect wether it be star fox or melee

[@JFinns]

Actually feeling the better input latency with 60fps and smoothness is so much dramatically better in gaming that 30fps is unplayable. Really I don't like playing lower than 144fps anymore.

[@CloudCuckooKing]

@@JFinns I grew up with stuff like Starfox and pushing a machine to reach 12, 13 FPS on Tomb Raider. I've absolutely played smoother games since, it's 2024, you can't not, but I don't think I'll ever understand the idea of better than twice that being unplayable. Sure makes me optimistic about the future of computer gaming hardware, though. At this rate, before I'm dead, 120 FPS will be barely tolerable.

[@BlueRice]

​@@pjnaruto1I always thought it's hardware issue. Same for dreamcast Tokyo racing game. When you drift it slow down. Gaming trying hard to compute

[@DARS_04]

Reminds me of cinematic 20 to 30fps games back in the PS3 days.

[@LITTLE1994]

That game was revolutionary back in the day. Overclocking Star Fox does have dangerous flashing, though.

[@Badspot]

I'm pretty sure photosensitive epilepsy can't be triggered by an LCD monitor.

[@diyromania]

​@@BadspotLCD monitors don't render flashing lights "safe" for epilepsy. It's just that CRT monitors inherently flicker due to their slower refresh speed, and are inherently risky under any circumstances. Normal viewing of a LCD screen is safer than a CRT monitor, but flashing lights are still dangerous.

[@Badspot]

@@diyromania If flashing lights on LCDs were dangerous, it could be addressed at the driver level. Nvidia or samsung or LG or anyone in the chain of production could make a "no flashing" mode, but they don't, because it's not a real problem.

[@diyromania]

@@Badspot Bizarre take. Companies generally don't care about accessibility, not because it isn't a problem, but because in their eyes the benefit is too small to be worthwhile. Bright flashing lights are bright flashing lights, it doesn't matter what the source of the lights are; why would it?

[@barryschalkwijk9388]

that boss just exiting left stage had me in stiches. "fuck this noise, imma nope out of here."

[@JustAnotherMatt420]

Was laughing at the same reason. I was having the driver say “You know what Terry? This shit ain’t worth it. We in a tank, Andross ain’t even in this sector anymore. Fuck this. I’m out. _WE_ out!”

[@IntegerOfDoom]

I'm surprised we don't have a decomp project for this one yet.

[@nicholascooney]

It's the thing I want most. PC ports of Star Fox 1 & 2

[@IntegerOfDoom]

@nicholascooney I imagine it will be a long while. We may get a port that looks identical to the SNES, but smoother framerates and higher resolutions seem difficult. Low framerate game logic. Precision of math for physics/rendering. (I don't know what I'm talking about. I need sleep)

[@literalmenteeu7217]

@@nicholascooney SNES games were written in assembly for a very different architecture. A very different situation than Mario 64 or Zelda OOT, written in C.

[@AB1138-]

Ex-Zodiac handles it all pretty well but obviously isn't Star Fox

[@Sauraen]

@@literalmenteeu7217 Right, you can't decompile a game which was never compiled in the first place.

[@Alianger]

You can't just compare level 1, the game is much more frustrating at that speed since it wasn't designed for it

[@juser-abuser]

Because it's not true 30 fps. It looks like frame skipping to increase the speed

[@CloudCuckooKing]

@@juser-abuser It's actually upclocking the coprocessor onboard the cartridge, but the problem is the game's speed is hard-tied to that as well. Older DOS games run up against this issue too, assuming a uniform clock rate for the processor and causing computers with faster clocks to make the game downright unplayable. The 30 FPS version, at least, is actually playable on original hardware with some minor mods tot he cartridge board. You can find people doing that on KZbin. I don't know for certain but the 60 FPS one might also be feasible on real hardware.

[@foundoasis7342]

@@CloudCuckooKing 30 fps would play on actual hardware maybe but no way 60

[@CloudCuckooKing]

@@foundoasis7342 Yeah, I don't recall the specifics and this isn't my hyperfixation - but I do recall that the onboard coprocessor is very willing to double it's clock with some soldering. With the resulting consequences on the game's design, too.

[@foundoasis7342]

@@CloudCuckooKing yea ur right about that i would still like to see 60 fps run on console but i highly doubt that is possible

[@TK2112]

Remember both Star Wars X-Wing and Star Fox came out the same year but in different systems. For X-Wing being a DOS game with at the time best 3D graphics that can run really good with the right specs in the 90s. Star Fox is pretty special for being a 3D game to handle a SNES console is pretty impressive. I can’t say they can compete on what was better but both of those are well known for bringing in the next generation of video game graphics before Quake could take that position. (Plus don’t forget Sega also made a Star Wars arcade game that same year with almost similar graphics to X-Wing)

[@semicuriosity257]

Star Fox game cartridge has a 16-bit RISC CPU @ 10 Mhz.

[@yellowblanka6058]

@@semicuriosity257 A DSP chip in a cartridge still isn't going to compare favorably to a multi-media PC with a higher end 386/486 (or Pentium if you were REALLY loaded) CPU, and logically, nobody should have expected it to - the SNES was selling at a profit for $250-300, there's no way it was ever going to hope to compete with a decent PC, add-in chips or not, on a pure processing level. Compare the SNES port of Doom to the game running in DOS, world of difference. The SNES main CPU was basically a re-purposed, somewhat modified CPU from an old Apple II GS computer.

[@semicuriosity257]

@@yellowblanka6058 Based on Doom results, SuperFX2 16-bit RISC custom CPU at 21 Mhz in cartridge delivered about 386DX-33 level. RISC CPU threat is real until X86 CPUs evolved into the X86 decoders with RISC cores microarchitecture. ARM continues to be a threat for X86 e.g. Qualcomm Oryon (ARM v9 clone) designed by key engineers from Apple's M1.

[@semicuriosity257]

@@yellowblanka6058 SuperFX2 custom RISC CPU in a cartridge for SNES is like attaching a Phase 5's PowerPC or PiStorm-RPi (RISC-based ARM Cortex A53 or A72) accelerator cards to the Amiga. ARM1 CPU's existence is to replace Commodore Semiconductor Group's MOS 65xx series CPUs since Commodore didn't invest in MOS 65xx CPUs. Western Design Center (WDC)'s 65C816 is a 16-bit evolution from Commodore's MOS 65xx series CPUs. The RISC CPUs replaced 68K and 65xx CISC CPU families. The SuperFX has its own RAM.

[@ProfessorPesca]

I just could not believe my SNES was capable of these graphics back in 1994 or whenever it was. So mindblowing

[@gravious]

it would be interesting to see a decompiled version that has proper fixed for the logic in place

[@StephenOwen]

Does panencoek do snes rom hacks? It'd be awesome to see him maybe do star fox 64 improvements

[@arkanjoteixeira]

Great video, man. You should do more in this style, like reviews and stuff. People would really enjoy that, I'm sure!

[@retroreminder6139]

Hey thanks! I think I will ;)

[@ZachAttackIsBack]

Any hacks of Star Fox 64 that recreate the original game's levels and enemies?

[@Vanessinha91Pucca]

i would love to see a 24 frame version

[@Zeithri]

I had no idea about that awesome StarFox EX hack! Also I think 30 FPS looks most natural. LOOL The boss drove off XD

[@Ratikal_]

The 30FPS looks pretty cool. No offense to kando but I felt like the new levels lacked a lot of the soul the old game had. But, I'm glad they went back and patched the original.

[@sammylane21]

This game was a lot of fun and a sweet nostalgia memory for me. My brothers and dad thought it was funny how if my ship turned left I'd lean left, turned right I'd lean right, going up I'd turn upwards, down so did I. 🤣

[@iLikeTheUDK]

Maybe a future hack of this sort can just sort of do what many Doom source ports do and run the graphics at a different framerate to the game logic, and interpolate between different states when the graphics are being updated but the game logic isn't. It feels like 60+ FPS because that's what it displays and that's how fast it receives your movement input, but the game logic still runs at 35 FPS

[@SBandy]

I find the original game still perfectly playable and still one of my favourite games of all time.

[@espirulografo]

was epic in it´s moment, I think nothing got that inspiration continued right at all

[@kerningandleading]

This might sound weird, but I prefer the old 15fps. Something about it being chuggy just feels right from all the hours put in on the SNES

[@drummerAVA]

2:54… so satisfying

[@vladpiranha]

I can't speak for the assembly language of the SNES, but in C#, gameplay coding is tied to the Update method, which runs once for every displayed frame of gameplay. Starfox's code appears to use a mathematical formula to control the direction of ships and rotate them smoothly at a set speed. If you messed with how often that formula updates, that would definitely give you different results.

[@SWChris]

When I tested the 60fps version I didn’t notice any troubles with lower maneuverability. I was testing on 3DS SNES9x though, not a PC emulator. I wonder if this was due to a configuration issue?

[@sahilhossian8212]

Lore of Star Fox SNES: Unleashing the Full Potential with Patches momentum 100

[@Noisy_Cricket]

It should be possible to decrease the scroll speed somewhere in the code of the game.

[@froodsmash]

238 subs? Make that 239 after this banger.

[@Murrlin27]

oooOOOOooo slick model!!

[@JamesTDG]

Man this makes me want someone to make a star fox clone in Pico-8

[@honorablejay]

It's funny how you mentioned the sluggishness when maneuvering at higher framerates. Years ago I simulated an overclock for Road Rash 2 and 3 on Genesis using an emulator (I think it's called Regen?) that could do overclocking. While it smoothed the framerate by a ton, it made it so you could barely turn and for the most part you were stuck in the middle of the screen. I'm guessing, just like Road Rash, a lot of the physics calculations are based on the framerate of the game itself and not based on actual time that has elapsed.

[@BalancedSpirit79]

This is a prime candidate for frame generation. Could an emulator be made to take advantage of high end GPUs?

[@mikaelrivacov5705]

I remember an emulator on my 3ds was running Star fox abnormally fast😅 Felt good❤

[@Dsturb85]

You forgot to mention how the music in the cutscenes does not really handle the higher frame rate properly because the game moves so much faster the music doesn't synchronize well with what's happening on the screen especially noticeable during the games intro sequence and launch sequence

[@brenscott5416]

Realistically this patch is set on a game where its always rendering every frame anyway so the game speed is tied to the framerate. To make it work youd need to change logic within the game as well as to change the speed of most things to match expected speeds at 30 fps logic. I know why it hasnt been done as its a massive pain in the ass but it would be nice

[@ignignxkt]

I’m fine with the fps the way it was. It doesn’t feel horrifically delayed like stunt racer fx. I think it’s fine. People who can play it now probably just weren’t alive back when it was new.

[@GoofballPaul]

Wake me up (with a big rock) when this same thing comes out for starfox 2. :O

[@kurtisharen]

Tried playing on a booster frame rate. Could not beat the Space Armada boss, it wouldn’t register hitting the weak points

[@ErickC]

I think the best way to go about getting a smooth version of Star Fox would be to just extract all the assets and rewrite the code from scratch for PC or a modern system. As far as "skill issues" go, strategy is also important. When I see people playing this game, I often see them flying through the mid-level save/supply rings. With the sole exception of Fortuna (which is a turd of a level from start to finish anyway), this is always a bad idea because the power ups are almost always at the beginning of a stage while yellow rings from shooting down enemies are plentiful and replenish health quickly. So, if you get shot down, you will start halfway through the level, where the difficulty has already ramped up, with a boss fight looming and a crappy single laser.

[@playerroku4412]

Game plays fine in original form

[@LecorbakOfficial]

people be like "the 60fps version is the version of how it was originally supposed to be" when it's just simply wrong. if you know the original game, then you know that it was made with this fps in mind to some degree. if you put the game in 60 fps, well your game is "fluid", but the game is unplayable, the text is too fast, the intro doesn't work properly, etc... if anyone thinks that the 60fps ver is the superior version, they are simply wrong. having more fps doesn't make your game better. I even think that the best version of this game is the PAL version.

[@MrViral20]

I have a patched version of Gradius 3 for the snes, that game has alot of slowdown but this rom hack or patch makes it a smooth 60fps at all times, and holy crap does it make the game much much harder, original Gradius 3 was very difficult but with the patch, it doubles it....

[@sonicdoesfrontflips]

I really wish Nintendo would do something new for this game, like a remake or like what they did with F-Zero

[@unknownunknown671]

I don't mind playing at 60FPS BUT!!!!! I wanted to be slow like the original was, nostalgia purposes talking.

[@zemaj0]

Growing up playing starwing playing star fox feels fast to me

[@gblargg]

1:29 One on the right is still only 15 FPS. It updates some animations at 30 FPS, but actual scene movement is only 15 FPS. 2:16 Same for the 60 FPS version. It only updates movement every 3 frames, so it's actually 20 FPS. Animation is done more often.

[@joeydaniel3053]

Nice video and nice arwing model. Maybe you should make a tutorial on how to make one. Btw what's the song at 7:45 ? I can't remember if that's tune is from star fox or another game

[@retroreminder6139]

Glad you liked it! There should be a link at the end of the video to my other channel, SterlingKisses, where I show the making of the Arwing model. All the songs in this video are from the Star Fox EX romhack. I don't remember what the song is called but it's featured on stage 1.

[@joeydaniel3053]

@@retroreminder6139 Thanks man, I appreciate you answering. God bless

[@June28July]

Cool Arwing!

[@CoolPig03]

30FPS with frame generation may be the perfect option

[@CoolPig03]

@@bananatoofat you should try it lol

[@johnellis3383]

Dude, 15fps back then was more than tolerable especially on SNES

[@phantomdragonv2x]

For a modern take on Star Fox SNES, check out Zodiac Wing!

[@DarkmoonWinter]

Can anybody tell me exactly what SNES X9 Neo is ?

[@sauzeefy]

At the deepest core of my being. I HATE that I will have to join a discord in order to get this.

[@felipefs106]

For some reason even today when I play this game and the objects get close to you it really feels like you're going to crash or sth, I think sound also plays a huge role on this game.

[@WT83]

I would totally play a "Megaman 8" version of Starfox that looked like the SNES version but 60fps+anti-aliasing.

[@Parker--]

Honestly, I’d rather see a full on reboot with the tone of the original rather than demake graphics. I want a super highres arwing, but one designed like the original, where the wings are connected by a single vertex, and the angles are pinpoint. Basically, imagine creating a model to the exact proportions of the SNES game but made with real metal. And also, the cartoon faces from the game are replaced by the cover art’s puppets and still speak garbled nonsense. I think the biggest thing missing from all the games is that dark, alien feeling of the original game. When squadmates die, they’re gone. It should feel harsh and like a proper suicide mission.

[@ktvx.94]

This is what happens when you don't use deltaTime in your game's logic

[@DARS_04]

Was deltatime a thing taken into account for games of that era?

[@DustinDoesStuff]

I wish there was a way to de-sync the framerate from drawing the image and the gameplay speed. It would be awesome to play Star Fox at 60fps but not move faster through the level.

[@thechillman48]

Do you think the rom can run on a 3DS? I wonder what putting it in 3D would look like.

[@RyushoYosei]

The 60 FPS mode I think is...odd, Mainly because it actualy is boosting the entire game emulation speed, rather then 'just' boosting framerate, so it does fundementally change the gameplay.

[@sammylane21]

Pepper Skip??

[@TheRealBatabii]

That 60 FPS flashing when you kill the boss really it's hard to watch, and I don't have any photosensitivity issues

[@lpfan4491]

60FPS breaks a lot of these old games for little reason. If it works on 30, just play on 30. If not(like in Zelda OOT), just play on original FPS. 20 or so sucks, but sometimes it cannot be helped.

[@vertigoz]

Damn, i had to decrease back to 1x, it seems fluid but slow at the same time 😅😅

[@alexandreg1565]

My dream is to see a patch for Demon's Crest to run without any slow down. Or a pixel art remake.

[@zach.0]

Is there not a way to hack in the 60fps, but alter the code so everything moves slower to compensate?

[@desktorp]

I don't think this was the speed intended by the developers, because they were developing the game for specific hardware and were playtesting it with that hardware.. It's not like a situation where the developer has a super fast computer and all the players have slower computers. Some parts might look smoother but these patches change the gameplay in a way that was not intended.

[@Dark_Jaguar]

It seems like now that it's been decompiled, a project making this game work as intended but at 60fps would involved a LOT of work, bespoke code for every cinematic to make them play at the proper length, fixing all the code tied to frame rate so it runs the same speed as it did at the original, and deciding on a fixed "speed" the game should play at (since that was kind of all over the place in the original, this will be a matter of agreement among the developers). Without that level of detail, these will always be pretty awkward at full speed.

[@brazilian_oak]

I've put "star fox decompilation" and "star fox snes disassembly" into Google and only found the N64 decomp and an incomplete disassembly from 5 years ago. Where's the new disassembly?

[@76_SPZL]

I'd love a 15 or 24fps mode so it sticks with the original creators intent but never drops frames. There's gotta be a nice sweet spot taht doesn't break the game.

[@Typical.Anomaly]

Can I still get the 30/60 fps if running on an Everdrive on an SNES?

[@MegaAshWilliams]

My first thought was, 'The gameplay is tied to the framerate' so..... why bother?

[@jfiffl7]

Problem is 'Nintendo" Knew their Toki-Toki's From their Doki' Doki's

[@Kevinus_Musicus]

"We be be jammin'"😂

[@usagi2076]

I wish the hack only made the game runs smooth instead of faster :\

[@cybergothika6906]

It doesn't need it, game is a magic piece. But if I had to do things for fun I would 1st put some texture where there is not while slightly preserving the models, and still make it look a Snes thing and never go too far, only enough to hit it right. 2nd I would work AI voices for the characters and revamp ally AI and scripts a bit. 3rd best music for the series still is with that ancient game, so we'd remaster it. Every other Star Fox game totally forgot about how music and the design were aiming at and nowadays it became kinda childish.

[@DJToneRI]

I thought the game was fine the way it was

[@chrisrj9871]

yeah but you know kids... they weren't there so they're the first to judge poorly.

[@Gotmilk0112]

The "60 fps" one just looks like they took the 30fps one and doubled the speed of the game.

[@94XJ]

You just gotta smack us all down with a reminder we're old in the first 10 seconds, huh? 😂

[@HoroJoga]

You sound a lot like pannenkoek2012, has anyone ever said that? But as for the game, I think a remake would be nice in the same vein as the bonus game on WarioWare Shake it.

[@danielt.8573]

So what the SNES always needed was Blast Processing?

[@platinumhawke]

Blast Processing had nothing to do with CPU speed or power, but was an alternate way for the Genesis to draw graphics directly to the screen, bypassing the systems colour limitations at the cost of 100% CPU usage. It never got used in any commercial games.

[@vertigoz]

It should be at the same speed? If it's faster surely something have had to give... The buildings and ships should appear in the same time period, otherwise the timing is wrong and you can't really say it's 60fps patch...

[@thethrashyone]

Could just be my settings but I've found that even a standard Star Fox ROM runs on snes9x at a much higher frame rate than it should, making the game twice as hard because you have to double tap that much quicker to execute a barrel roll. I usually just end up going with the ol' dinosaur, zsnes, if I ever want to play Star Fox. High frame rate hacks would be fun IF the game were optimized for it, but these hacks don't really seem to do a whole lot of optimization judging from things like the faulty barrel roll execution and the oddly hampered maneuvering speed.

[@delta7890]

If you want an alternative to zsnes that plays Super FX chip games at an accurate frame rate, I'd recommend bsnes. As to the rest, I agree. All these hacks are doing is speeding the game up, which isn't what personally I want to see. What really needs to happen is for the frame rate to be increased while keeping all of the game logic consistent with the original release. No doubt that would require a tremendous overhaul of the code.

[@Gentou76]

I have never had any issues with the game 30 years ago with the ability to adapt.

[@dr.metroid6119]

30 years and only 9 games...... 😭

[@Parker--]

And most of them have been pseudo remakes of SF64.

[@chadking1938]

I just wish the ar wing would look like from the main menu and ending.

[@fb1767]

Star Fox at 15 fps: broken TotK at 16 fps: masterpiece

[@theloststarbounder]

Nobody made a fan game of it that can run well and on x86_64?

[@adirblazkowics7717]

Oh yeah, forcing some old games to run at higher FPS DOES have its flaws, as the ones that run very slowly tend to have the game designed around that low framerate... There's plenty of examples of PS1 games that do this, and if you overclock it and force more framerate outta the PS1, then you get desynchronized audio in cutscenes, games running a little too fast for the way their gameplay is set up (You get fucking mashed in final fantasy 7's battles and have to make split-second reaction when turns come up) among other abnormalities.

[@Mechaghostman2]

I'm the same age as Star Fox, apparently. :/

[@TheHardStyleLife]

Kinda just seems like it's on fast forward but

[@FemboyBlake]

The game looks better on a crt tv than a hdtv.

[@chrisrj9871]

kinda bothers me when people say 30 years ago wasn't "modern". How is a world with cars, phones, planes, radio, television, video games and decent civil rights not "modern"? It's better to say "current" and not disrespect the people who were there.

[@emilyblake4424]

people complain about star fox's framerate like stunt race fx doesn't exist lmfao

[@danielshayder8875]

They should just remake the game. Add the increased frame rate and fix the other bugs.

[@donskiver]

I wonder if 24 fps would be a good compromise between playability and not breaking the internal logic of the game...

[@MalabarTheGreat]

21 fps would probably be optimal.

[@mrmosty5167]

We've got to fly through all the rings! You know, since they're round? Just like certain wooden containers that hold liquids? You know how those things move when you tip them over right? Maybe you should perform one of those maneuvers...

[@CrimsonSteelMoonTheWolf64]

How hard would it be to rework the game logic? A pain?

[@platinumhawke]

Probably slightly less work than making the game in the first place.

[@johnrickard8512]

Starfox doesn't even look right at 60fps. I think 30 is the sweet spot for this one.

[@TheKrensada]

Wow...if you try to do anything like this with Mario or Zelda, Nintendo does a cease and desist...but Star Fox? They just don't care.

[@albdamned577]

Lol it’s like comparing different computers playing the same game.

[@bluedistortions]

The game looks silly at 60fps. things fall over or down waaaay too quick, looks like a 1930s slapstick comedy. Starfox was designed for 30fps max.

[@PsychoJosh]

The FPS of the original Star Fox never bothered me. The game was designed around the framerate so the timings of everything felt perfect. I always laughed whenever I hear people born after 2000 complaining about it though. You guys were just bred inferior I guess.